The cabinet tendered its resignation as parliament was about to look into a request by three legislators to question the prime minister, a member of the royal family, over the visit of an Iranian Shi’ite cleric accused of offending Sunni Muslims.
But the three deputies had also wanted to question Sheikh Nasser al-Mohammad al-Sabah over a wide range of accusations including alleged corruption and mismanagement in the world’s seventh-largest oil exporter.
The impasse jeopardises crucial economic reforms such as a plan to set up a markets regulator and recent measures to tackle the impact of the global financial crisis by pumping cash into the Arab world’s second-largest bourse hit by a slide.
State news agency KUNA said the Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah ordered ministers to continue to carry out their duties pending a decision.
After meeting with the emir earlier on Tuesday, Parliament Speaker Jassim al-Kharafi said Sheikh Sabah will not dissolve the house — an elected legislature dominated by Islamist and tribal politicians with a history of challenging the cabinet.
‘I can confirm there will be no dissolution, constitutional or unconstitutional,’ Jassim al-Kharafi told reporters.
The uncertainty over the political crisis weighed on the Gulf Arab state’s stock market .KWSE which briefly touched red territory after news of the resignation.
‘Uncertainty is the worst thing. Markets don’t know whether economic reforms will be executed or not,’ said Mustafa Behbehani, a director at Gulf Consulting Co.
Major reforms have been delayed for years due to long-standing tensions between members of consecutives parliaments and the government — unsual in a region ruled by families.
The three Islamist lawmakers say the Shi’ite cleric had offended Kuwait’s predominantly Sunni Muslim population with comments he made about some of the Prophet Mohammad’s companions, whom Sunnis revere.
Fears of a growing sectarian rift have bubbled in the region since Iraq’s Sunni Muslim leader Saddam Hussein was toppled by U.S.-led forces in 2003 and replaced by a Shi’ite-controlled government backed by Shi’ite power Iran.
The resignation was the latest crisis in the country’s political history.
The Kuwaiti parliament is regarded as one of the most democratic among the Gulf Arab states but the insistence of some deputies to question the prime minister, a nephew of the emir, is a sensitive issue.
The emir or his predecessors have reshuffled governments or dissolved parliament five times since 1976 to avoid grilling sessions and the votes of confidence that follow.
The last assembly dedicated much time to questioning ministers and there have been multiple changes in the government lineup over the past two years as a number of ministers have stepped down under parliamentary pressure.
Kuwait’s oil policy is managed by a council that includes members of the cabinet, but changes in the government has no direct impact on the policy of the world’s seventh-largest oil exporter.
With political parties banned, parliament is not working efficiently as MPs often swamp the agenda with uncoordinated motions, make long speeches or pursue personal vendettas with ministers, analysts say.
